Tag Archives: marriage equality

In 2007 when California first legalize marriage equality and after only a year in one of the biggest campaign of against human rights, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints successfully undo the success of the LGBT community in California. The mormon church and other religious organization successfully put marriage in the ballot in the 2008 elections and won by a short margin.

A little background for you, as soon as 2004 San Fransisco mayor Gavin Newsom for valentine’s day he decided to gave out marriage licenses to people of the same sex. Partly because he grew up in San Fransisco and knew a lot of gay people saw the humanity in them.

By 2007 the Californian house and senate passes a marriage equality law. The Republican governor, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has no problem signing it to law.

By the next year, there is a challenge to the marriage law brought by conservatives that said the usual anti-LGBT arguments, they have been saying for decades. The LGBT rights groups assumes that the measure will not pass in liberal California, but they were wrong.

The measure was called proposition 8, backers of prop 8 are churches, including the Mormon Church who pour in a lot of money into this hateful cause. They run advertisements on Television telling Californians awful gay people are. The Church put up countless lies about gay relationships.

The pro LGBT groups some how lost sight of what they fighting for. They run advertisement, about how the law is and how unfair it is for them. They made a mistake though they never put LGBT people on their ads. People will not mind hurting you if they do not who they are hurting.

Election Day 2008 came, the LGBT groups, are very confident that they are going to win. But the better marketing of the opponent worked. They market it as if their is something wrong with gay people. They lied to Californians by their ads.

The LGBT groups learn their lessons after prop 8 they filled a lawsuit and won in 2013, they also won in the court of public opinion. they run good advertisement that ultimately change hearts and minds.

Marriage equality is the law of the land in America today, the Supreme Court states the fourteenth amendment section two, the equal protection and due process clause. But this week the state of Alabama said that they will not be issuing marriage licenses to gay couples: stating the tenth amendment. Is this constitutional at all.

According to the 10th amendment all laws that is not in the constitution is reserved for the states. And according to the United States constitution marriage is not one of those laws. Conservative states used the 10th amendment to their advantage, during the 1950’s and 1960’s conservative used states rights to advocate for segregation.

But and there is a big but, according to article five, clause two of the constitution, the supremacy clause that federal law override state law. And marriage equality is the law of the land the Supreme Court had decided upon the matter. The use of the fourteenth amendment is not a bad argument, because the fourteenth amendment section two is implying that all US citizens have equal protection of the law.

Alabama is making a fool out of themselves, it will not just be a waste of money and time because the Supreme Court had decided on this already. They never learn their lesson, back then after the Supreme Court had decided on Brown vs. board of Education when George Wallace block college kids from entering the University of Alabama, shouting segregation now, segregation forever. It is wrong back then and its wrong today.

Lastly Alabama should allow marriage equality because it is constitutional, they should honor the Supreme Court’s decision. They are really dumb if they do not. Finally, I want you to remember that George Wallace is not a good person, we look at him as a bad person, he is racist and wrong

December 30, 2015
5. Donald Trump entering the race for the White House- Do not get me wrong I hate this person a lot because of what he is saying. He have said some of the nastiest stuff in this election cycle, but do not get me wrong it is so much fun to watch. My favorite is when he attacked Carly Fiorina and said he would not like to see that face in the White House.

4. The Charlie Hebdo Attacks- this is not my favorite story at all but this informs how I write, before the Charlie Hebdo attacks I am really scared of speaking my mind out but after the attacks at Charlie Hebdo, I said to my self that I really need to write about the issues that I care mostly about, like equality.

3. The 2016 presidential elections specially the republican debates- this had been a weird year as far as election is concern, as i said, since Mr Trump had entered the race, America has been fixated on him but not talking about the issues at hand.

2. The Syrian Refugee Crisis- This is such a sad story that I could not even believe that I will be writing this on the blog, but it need to be talk about. The Syrian civil war have so many innocent lives taken from us. The best thing we can do is help people in need. Do not be scared of Muslim refugees. America has the most robust screening process of refugees In the world.

My favorite story of the year is Marriage equality in the USA: On 26 June of this year the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision, states that marriage is a right under the 14th Amendment of the constitution. I think that it will be a stepping stone for many countries to do the same.

Joaquin Tenedora-Forte November 4, 2015
In the decision by the United States Supreme Court last June that states that marriage is a fundamental human right. The decision meant that a family with same sex parents will not be look down by the government. It also meant that gay people will have a good family life, so what are the effects if any: positive or negative to their children.

In the history of studying this subject from the 1980’s till this day, there have been three stages of studies. In the 1980’s, the impacts are negative, they said that gay people adopting children will lead to all of the societal ills. To the 90’s where in the scientific community is divided. To today that they are in perfect agreement, that the modern family is good for children.

In a consolidation analysis done by Northwestern University that states that gay parents are no more loving and caring than a traditional family. Furthermore the researchers say that there are some advantages to LGBT parenting like empathy for others because of the prejudices towards them. And the rejections of gender norms, because in a same sex household there is no man and woman, there are only parents.

According to the same study kids that are raise by lesbians did the best on all this test, empathy, higher grades in school and more. The theory is that two woman raising children are better because women are more caring and loving, and that lesbians are more likely to not cheat on their spouses. We all know that kids do well if the parents stay together.

Lastly, it is not about the plumbing but the love that they have for their kids. The love that a parents have for their son or daughter is unconditional. Finally 99 percent of gay people need to plan to have children, either thru adoption or thru IVF so as a result they will love and cherish the kids that they have

There are people from time to time that will change your perspective on life, more than you expected. I know they do not know who I am, but I know them, and they rock. YouTube stars Will and RJ from the Channel shep689, I love this guys so much, that they change how I felt about LGBT issues, I feel good defending the rights of gay people because of them.

Growing up in rural Florida, William Ross Shepherd was a smart kid, who did not fit the mold of a country boy. He loves reading books and playing video games. He was being violently bullied by classmates and schoolmates, coming home to a father that did not understood him. Will kept to himself and study harder and graduated third on his class. Coming out as gay to people at the aged of 14, the bullying stopped instantly.

Will’s fiancé Ricardo Aguiar Jr or RJ, was born in Tampa Florida, a son of two Cuban immigrants, RJ learn to speak a mixture of English and Spanish. He was also bullied as a young boy because he wore thick glasses and he also have a sensory processing disorder.

Will and RJ met while volunteering at the LGBT student group on campus at Florida State University (FSU). There was a big problem RJ identified as straight, but is a bisexual man.

They began seeing each other, the same time as they are first seeing each other. Will was starting up his YouTube channel, (shep689.) where he posted some videos from time to time. By January 2012 they started posting daily videos. They only intended to do the vlogs for one month. They also thought that it will kill their channel. Boy were they wrong, they shared intimate parts of their relationship, their engagement, them moving to Los Angeles and their mental health struggles. Will has PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder.) due to the bullying that he encountered growing up.

Their life challenges like when RJ was arrested. On February 15, 2014 while partying their friends headlock Will, Will reacted by fighting back, RJ joined the fight and RJ was arrested. As a result of the incident, it prompted Will to stop drinking alcohol. They push back like a good couple does.

Finally, Will and RJ are my inspiration because they set a good example on young people who have mental health issues. I love them so much and can not wait that they get married on May of the next year. I hope them the best, thru the next chapter of their life’s.

Joaquin Tenedora Forte
If you follow the news this days, especially LGBT news blogs, you will recognize Kim Davis. Kim Davis is this woman who do not want to give out marrage licenses to all couples, not just LGBT couples in Kentucky because of her religious beliefs. Mind you she is married and divorced three different times. I would not mind the most hipocritical things about her and her life.

On June 26 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States in the grounds of the 14th Amendment. equal protection and due process clause: decided that the right to same sex marriage should not be denied. On June 29, Monday, the problems began when people like Kim Davis denied marriage licenses to people of the same gender because of their religious beliefs.

The problem is that it is illegal what she is doing because she is a representative of the state. The law of the land states that Marriage is a fondimental Hunan right. And even if she have a right to her own religious beliefs according to the first amendment religious freedom clause she need to put her beliefs in her sleeves. If She do not want to give out same sex marriage licenses, she should resign herself. She is violating the court order. It’s just right that she was jailed.
After she got out of jail, Presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee join Kim Davis on stage protesting her sentence, comparing her to all sorts of activist and president Abraham Lincoln, Rossa Parks and the great Martin Luther King jr. I believe the absurdity of governor Huckabee here, he is really dumb.

Lastly, I want to say this Kim Davis wants to be remembered as a civil rights hero. But she will not be, the trend is moving towards a liberal outcome. Finally Kim Davis is not Martin Luther King jr. She is more like Bull Conner (the governor who blocked the door of an elementary school during desegregation.)

Joaquin Tenedora Forte
As we all know marriage equality is the law of the land in America . The majority opinion was very nice. It was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy who wrote that ‘no Union is more profound than marriage’, but the opinion aside: being LGBTQ in America has changed dramatically. As we all know being LGBTQ, there are something that certain stigmas atach.

For starters, only 15 years before the dicision of the Supreme Court, there are some states the castrate gay people just for being gay, In the Deep South there are Laws in the books that police can search a home, and when they see two people making out, (two man or two weman), the two were put in jail. (A complete violation of the fourth amendment, the search and seizure clause) but did it anyway.

The next generation of LGBTQ people in America will never experience that police brutality. Police raiding Gay bars, like what happened in StoneWall in 1969 46 years ago. And in the AIDS protest in the early 1980s where in the police wore gloves, to send a message of disgust to the LGBT community. It was wrong back then and it is wrong today.

I am not saying that all discriminations will stop. It would not, the bullying will never stop It’s just the nature of being human. But what I am saying is that being LGBTQ, you are not a second class citizen in your own country. Parents will not feel the fear for their child’s life’s, that parents back then felt.All people at least in marital status is treated equally under the law.

The next generation of gay people will never experience that obvious discrimination towards them. But Please do not forget what happened in history, (it will guide us.) Lastly. the community need to be as greatful of the people who came before us.

It’s a common knowledge that the Catholic Church is not fond of the idea of gay people marrying. But in a poll by Pew Research, that said that 60 percent of American Catholics are in favor of marriage equality. And the pope, pope Francis said ‘who am I to judge’ gay people’. But why is the catholic doctrine opposed to the idea of gay marriage.
Of course, we all know that the bible is against gay marriage or gay sex in that manner. But Catholics take a more moderate position in the issue of gayness, specially American Catholics, look at the survey at the beginning of this piece. For most catholic folks, people don’t choose to be gay.
According to Catholic doctrine, sex is a reserve ritual that two people who are married do, to pro create. In short sex is only for having babies. But we all know, that having sex is not only for two people to have children. Sex is also for the bond and intimacy.
In the logic of the Catholic Church gay people can’t get married because they cannot have kids of their own. In the mind of people who are opposed to gay marriage It is okey to be gay but you need to practice celibacy.

There are a lot of problems with that argument, for example women who for what ever reason cannot be pregnant. And people, older people, post menopause women cannot have children. The Catholic Church has no problem officiating weddings for women who are post menopause and for women who cannot get pregnant. They have a big problem officiating weddings with gay men and lesbians.
Lastly,

marriage is not only about having sex. It is also the bond that two people hold. There are certain rights and responsibilities under the law that are attach to marriage. Finally, the Catholic Church should respect the decision of a country to have gay marriages.

Joaquin Tenedora-Forte
On Friday June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States said that marriage is a fundamental human right. Since this country is uber conservative, people were offended. The Catholic Church, the government and its people said that the will never allow gay marriage here in this country. So I want to let people understand and debunk myths on the “gay lifestyle”.

1. Gay marriages will lead to pedophilia

Fact: Gay marriage will not lead to pedophilia, because pedophiles are criminals and bad people. A young child can’t consent to an older person. And people who do child porn are sick, they should be in prison. And if they legalize pedophilia, I will be the first person to opposed it. It’s rape, it’s a crime.

2. Being Gay is a choice

Fact: You do not choose to be gay, it’s innate. And people who are gay are born that way so as straight people do, (to whom are you attracted to.) Scientists had already found what could cause homosexuality. It’s a genetic mutation that cause people to be gay. They don’t choose to be gay they choose to come out.
3. Marriage should be for one man, one woman and If you do that you will ruin the sanctity of marriage.

No, because history and the bible says otherwise. In the bible the traditional marriage is polygamy from Abraham to David, in the New Testament it started to change. We got Mary, Joseph and Jesus. In America until recently, you can give out your daughter for money to live with other man, girls aren’t ever allowed to work and woman should stay at home.

4. God created Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve

Fact: The stupidest argument against gay marriage ever, first of all I believe in evolution. So for me It was really dumb because creationism I think is stupid. But here is my counter argument, gay people are in the bosom of straight people. What I mean is that gay people are living and breathing with straight people, since the Stone Age.
5. Myth: God only created two genders: a man and a woman

Fact: The most frustrating argument, because I really believe in science and the scientist says otherwise, there are three types of a persons identity.
1. Gender is in your head: what you feel in your head.

2. Sexuality is what is in your heart: meaning who are you attracted to.

3. Sex is who are you biologically and your anatomy.

People are born biologically male and act like a man. People are born female and act female. People can be gay or transgender. Gender is a spectrum, that its perfectly normal to be gay

Lastly, I want to leave you with justice Anthony Kennedy’s argument for the legalization of gay marriage in America. This is something to think about:

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”